Prime Minister Abbott: Reform the Senate Election Process

It’s great to have lots of different voices in our Parliament, but the election outcome in the Senate has been a farce.

Australians want the new government to fix the Senate election process urgently.

Something is seriously broken when we end up with a handful of people, who gather as little as 1500 votes out of 23 million people, holding the country to ransom with a six-year term in the Senate. That’s not the outcome the system is meant to create.

We’ve got people making hugely important decisions about this country who simply aren’t ready for the job - and they don’t have a mandate from the people. We need to ask, do we want to take our country seriously?

Something should be done urgently. This is the first thing that Mr Abbott should address. He must save our democracy and restore the public’s faith.

I am just a school kid - but I can clearly see that something has gone wrong, very wrong. I am only 16 and can’t vote yet - but I still want a political system that we can be proud of - not one that makes us a laughing stock around the world.

We must change two things - we cannot have a process where so many people end up on the ballot paper that the form is so long no one has the time to fill it out, and we cannot have a system where someone can get only a handful of votes and get in.

Tony Abbott has been elected as leader of this country, so I want to see him lead on this issue, now. He doesn’t have to wait for any more inquiries or reports. He can act right now. It’s a great chance for Mr Abbott to show leadership with the public behind him.

This petition was delivered to:

Prime MinisterMr Tony Abbott

Letter to

Prime MinisterMr Tony Abbott

Review the conditions that allow Senate Candidates to stand for election and review the process of how Senators are elected.